[Intervention for apoplexy patients discharged from hospital. Physical training: a literature review]. / Opfølgende indsats til apopleksipatienter efter udskrivelse fra hospital. Fysisk traening: et litteraturstudium.

Stroke is among the leading causes of disability in Denmark. Rehabilitation services are in the process of being reorganised into dedicated stroke units. There is a general tendency toward reduction of length of in-patient treatment. The literature on outpatient rehabilitation services following primary rehabilitation on an inpatient basis was reviewed. The results of 16 randomised studies indicate that: 1) Continued rehabilitation after discharge can improve functional capacity of disabled stroke survivors; 2) Home-based rehabilitation is as effective as hospital-based outpatient rehabilitation; 3) Early supported discharge (ESD) services can reduce length of hospital stay but the relative advantages and drawbacks remain unclear. Ongoing rehabilitation by teams specialised in stroke rehabilitation seems to be crucial. More research, including evaluation of home-based rehabilitation services, is called for and existing outpatient rehabilitation services should be evaluated scientifically.

[Intervention for apoplexy patients discharged from hospital. Psychosocial support: a literature review]. / Opfølgende indsats til apopleksipatienter efter udskrivelse fra hospital. Psykosocial støtte: en litteraturoversigt.

Psychosocial support has been suggested as a way of easing stroke survivors' and their carers' adjustment to a life with disability. The literature on psychosocial support services following primary rehabilitation in hospital was reviewed. Eleven controlled studies evaluating the effect of psychosocial support interventions after discharge from hospital were identified. The studies differed widely with respect to design, intervention and evaluation methods. The results suggest that psychosocial support after discharge can improve psychological well being and quality of life for stroke survivors and their families and improve the social activity of patients. The effect was achieved by using different types of intervention such as providing information, counselling and support from stroke clubs. Psychosocial support for carers was effective as well. Future research should elucidate this area, including evaluation of psychosocial support as a tertiary prevention strategy.

[The mini-mental state examination in screening of cognitive dysfunction and dementia]. / Mini-mental state examination ved undersøgelser af kognitiv dysfunktion og demens.

The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) is one of the most widely used screening instruments for the detection of cognitive impairments, used primarily in connection with screening for dementia. The intent of this review is to describe the original purpose of the MMSE and how it is currently used in clinical practice and in research. Advantages and limitations of the MMSE in providing a valid diagnosis of cognitive impairments (dementia) are discussed including sensitivity and specificity, the issues of the relationship of the MMSE scores to sociodemographic variables and examinations of factor structures of the MMSE. It is concluded that the MMSE provides a valid diagnosis of cognitive impairments among people with moderate and severe dementia in general populations. However, MMSE is not recommended as a screening instrument for the detection of early stages of dementia. Studies are needed to extend the present knowledge about how or whether the MMSE can be used in the clinical diagnostic evaluation of dementia and how demented patients treated with medications should be monitored.

[Physical fitness of Danish men and women aged 50 to 80 years]. / Danske maend og kvinders fysiske arbejdsevne fra 50- til 80-års-alderen.

Maximal power in sustained work in originally randomly selected men and women, born in 1914, was studied five times between the ages of 50 and 80 years in a longitudinal design. Of the originally 514 men and 461 women in 1964 living in the Western suburbs of Copenhagen, 23 men and 18 women performed a bicycle test at age 50, 60, 70, 75 and 80. The mean annual decline in body mass adjusted maximal power in sustained work (W/kg) was 1.43% in the 18 men and 1.64% in the 23 women. Based on "cross-sectional" comparisons of all subjects tested at any age, the mean annual decline in men was 1.56%; in women the corresponding figure was 1.80%. When the results of the "longitudinal" and "cross-sectional" analyses were compared with each other, a rather similar picture of the age-related decline in maximal power was obtained, especially in women. In the longitudinal data only moderate (women) or zero (men) correlations were observed between the submaximal test results at the ages of 50 and 60 years and the maximal test results at higher ages. The physical work load at the age of 50 years had no significant correlation with maximal power at that age or thereafter. There were only minor changes in mean body height, body mass and BMI during the follow-up.

[Symptoms of irritable colon among the elderly]. / Colon irritabile-symptomer blandt aeldre.

A sex stratified random sample of 70-year-old Danes living in Glostrup County was interviewed about abdominal symptoms in order to assess 1) the prevalence of colon-related symptoms and irritable bowel syndrome among the elderly and 2) to which extent different definitions of irritable bowel syndrome identify different subjects as having irritable bowel syndrome. Abdominal pain occurred with a prevalence of 17% among men and 28% among women (p < 0.01), distension with a prevalence of 29% and 40%, borborygms with a prevalence of 16% and 27%, and varying consistency of stool with a prevalence of 25% and 28%, for men and women respectively. The median number of bowel movements a week was seven for both sexes. Prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome was 3-18% among men and 6-32% among women according to various definitions. The subpopulations identified by various definitions of irritable bowel syndrome had less than 50% of the subjects in common.

[Social situation of the 70-year old population in the past and present. A cohort comparison of 70-year old men and women born in 1987 and 1914 in Glostrup]. / 70-åriges sociale situation før og nu. En kohortesammenligning af 70-årige maend og kvinder tilhørende 1897- og 1914-populationerne i Glostrup.

A cohort comparison between two different populations of 70 year-olds in Glostrup studied in 1967 (230 men and 210 women) and in 1984 (412 men and 392 women) was conducted for the purpose of identifying differences in social background factors known to have influence on health and the quality of life of old people. The findings show, that from 1967 to 1984, the standard of housing had improved. Significantly more 70 year-olds had better housing conditions with bath, toilet, kitchen and central heating in 1984 (65-92%). Women in the 1914 cohort had significantly longer education and a larger proportion were employed outside the home than in the 1897 cohort. Another significant cohort difference found was a tendency toward earlier retirement in the order of 2-3 years. This was seen for both sexes and all occupational groups. Since the two populations of 70 year-olds in Glostrup differ with regard to both social conditions and on health variables, this cohort comparison offers a useful starting point for research on how living conditions in combination with other factors affect health and aging.

[Health status of the 70-year-old population in the past and present. A cohort comparison of 70-year old men and women born in 1987 and 1914 in Glostrup]. / 70-åriges helbred før og nu. En kohortesammenligning of 70-årige maend og kvinder tilhørende 1897- og 1914-populationerne i Glostrup.

A cohort comparison between two different populations of 70 year-olds in Glostrup who had health examinations in 1967 (230 men and 210 women) and in 1984 (412 men and 392 women) was conducted with the purpose of describing changes in health variables among old people during a period of falling mortality for both men and women. From the 1967 investigation to the 1984 investigation there was a significant improvement of the cardiovascular risk profile (i.e. body mass index, blood pressure, serum cholesterol, glucose tolerance) which is consistent with other such investigations. In contrast to these findings, symptoms of chronic conditions (angina pectoris, intermittent claudication and bronchitis) as well as the need for health care were the same in the two populations of 70 year-olds. In addition, the 1914 cohort reported a more pessimistic outlook with regard to their general health and greater consumption of medicine. The results of this investigation are consistent with expectations regarding changes in risk factors and mortality in older generations. The consequences of the falling mortality for morbidity and functional ability in a life perspective are, however, still uncertain, and cannot be evaluated alone from results such as these.